Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kinship]

You love to pick fights and try to look innocent don't you. We all read your posts and we all can see how you feel about Koreans and hagwons. The rest of your post provides the evidence.

[Jaspercat]

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies so far!

I'll add a few more points, though:

In my contract under flights it only states that the school will provide flights to and from Korea. I knew many hagwons state this and still want the teacher to buy it first, to be reimbursed later, so I asked the recruiter what the school wanted (this was back in November) and I asked again a few weeks later just to be sure - both times he said that leaving dates would be arranged last minute and the school would not expect me to pay for flights so close to my departure date. In other words: don't worry, the school will cover it.

Fast forward to a matter of days ago another person from the same recruiting company says that the school's policy is and always has been that the teacher buys the ticket to Korea and is paid back later. Just want to emphasise that this is true! The school had no idea I was told differently back in November so it is not their fault that this problem exists now. The problem is with the recruiting agency who secured me a job but has neglected to give the right info.

One post suggested just paying for it so as to not get off to a bad start with the school, and had I still been in financial difficulty I would have said that was impossible, but I have got extra funds now and think that might just be the way to go. After all, apart from only letting me move into my apartment the night before training, the school has been pretty reasonable so far. I don't want to start my job in 2 weeks time with Korean staff thinking I was demanding by making them pay up front.

Thanks to the person who looked up flights - those were a little cheaper than I had found - sadly I'll be leaving during the week and there's a couple of travelling expenses I added on to flight costs which I was going to have to pay myself anyway. Still, I now have the money to cover my initial estimate so if it comes below that then awesome for me!

Now that the panic is out of the way, I'd really like to know if there's anything I can do to get back at the recruiter? What websites can I leave negative reviews on other than this one? Agencies cannot do this to people who are about to make a huge move in their lives - it's already stressful enough.

[CentralCali]

I thought I asked you to be specific, kinship. "Your posts prove it" is not specific. State what it is in my posts that proves your assertion and how that proves it.

How do I feel about Koreans? Well, I've been dating an actual Korean woman for a few years. For almost five years, I was a leader in a Korean congregation of my church, I learned Korean back in the 1970s and have been involved in one way or another with Korea and Koreans since that time.

I am not jaded about Korea. I actually like the place and the vast majority of the people I've met there. The people I don't like are those who are dishonest. Care to guess where you fall on that short list?

What mitigating factors cancel honoring a contractual obligation at the very beginning of the contract? If the boss can't honor the very contract the boss offered, then the boss should simply withdraw the offer.

For the OP's case, I wouldn't buy what the recruiter's selling. Either the recruiter is incredibly incompetent or they are not telling the OP the truth. The OP, IMHO, should contact former teachers at that school to find out what the real deal is. Or simply find another place to work, perhaps assited in finding such by a competent and honest recruiter.

[Enrico Palazzo]

We're saying a thread that has flame value here. Can you tone it down? I don't know who started it, but bashing other posters is verboten. Getting personal is against the TOS.

[ontheway]